refWrite backpage: Movies: Religion movies: Davinchflick considered mostly a bummer by movie critics and movie-goers in first round of review

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Originally published on May21,2k6 on refWrite page 3.
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Shaun Groves, a musician and speaker on culture & Gospel, runs Shlog blog, where he just carried an early roundup of reviews and posts on the Davinchflick. Perhaps the title he gave his anthology of quotes, summarizes his own (re)view: Why Da Vinci Code crapfest may come out smelling like a rose. A warm Hat Tip to Celal Berker who blogs Icarus Redeemed - for putting his readers (me included!) onto Shaun's great roundup of Davinchflick reviews. If you're interested in other aspects of Davinchflick and its mother-book by Dan Brown, you may want to read my own earlier posts on refWrite page 2. For live links to these, please see More sources at the bottom of this blog entry. - Anaximaximum

Here's Shaun:

Grove, Shaun musician

And here're his multi-quotes:

The reviews are in for The Da Vinci Code:

"A jumbled, joyless affair that neither entertains nor enlightens." -- Shawn Adler, IGN Filmforce

"The problem is the pace, which suffers when demands of explication force Howard to pull his foot off the gas." -- Greg Burk, LA Weekly

"As for the film's entertainment virtues, forget it. This is one of the most talky and pretentious major films in memory." -- Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com

"The movie is woefully plotted and just flat-out, eye-crossingly dull." -- Phoebe Flowers, South Florida Sun-Ssentinel

"...overblown so-so suspense flick..." -- JoBlo, Joblo's Movie Emporium

"Ron Howard [director] plays it too safe keeping fans of the book in line, objectors at bay and alienates anyone coming into the hype with thoughts of 'that's what everyone is up in arms about?'" -- Erik Childress, eFilmCritic.com

"... it's not very good -- long (2hr.32min.) and mostly inert." -- Richard Corliss, Time magazine

"The film is faithful enough [to Dan Brown's book], but it's hard to imagine it making many converts [from Christian faith]." -- Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

"A jumble of historical myth, religious symbology and international thriller-action makes for an unwieldy, bloated melodrama." -- Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter

"The truth is that The Da Vinci Code is a pretty-good-but-who-cares effort, a moderately interesting diversion that will hold audiences in the moment but leave them unmoved and unchanged." -- Mick LaSalle, San Fransisco Chronicle

"These offerings by Howard and Goldsman are not enough to turn a page-turner into something that survives and transcends a media phenomenon, in the way of such bad novels as The Godfather and Jaws." -- Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

From the sight of things over at rottentomatoes.com (16% approval rating for DVC at the moment) I'm wondering if Mark Lee is right: [Boycotts and "othercotts"] feed the story. They prolong the hype...because of all the hoopla [The Da Vinci Code] has gotten, a whole lot of people are still going to see it.
If The Da Vinci Code is on top of the box office for longer than opening weekend do we Christians who blogged (are blogging) about it, boycotted it and othercotted it deserve some credit for it's success?

posted by Shaun Groves @ 5/18/2006 13 comments

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13 Comments:

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Brody Harper said...

Did you say "crapfest"?
5/18/2006

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~Davidge said...

I almost wish it had been a good movie (yes said as in I've seen it. I'm a computer guy, knw piracy is wrong, don't get me started etcetera), for my own personal reasons, as in, the book was a good story, etcetera, but it kinda sucked. the reviews I totally agree with. the Christians it DOES pul off thee path have to stay awake first.
~David
5/18/2006

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Amy said...

oh, I'm disappointed that it wasn't a better movie, but a lot of people didn't think it was a good book to begin with, so perhaps it's keeping with that.
I quite enjoyed the book.
5/18/2006
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anonwriter said...

I have not seen a lot of pop culture media make a big deal out of the boycotting. There was some coverage when an archbishop I believe it was used Easter Sunday to speak about the movie, but other than that I don't think the boycotting has made an impact for the movie or against the movie. Hollywood has been hurting itself lately with all of its excessively excessive hype. Tom Cruise in MI3, Poseidon, and now the Da Vinci Code - Hollywood is running these movies into the ground months before they ever come out.
5/19/2006
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The Cachinnator said...

Yup.
5/19/2006
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Rachel said...

I'm a bit disappointed. I thought the box office would redeem itself with DVC, and the the controversy would actually work on its behalf. I still plan to see it, but now going in with the negative spin in mind from many of my fellow media-ites.

I think this whole situation was unfortunate, actually. It seems the members of the church that make the biggest stink about things like this are the ones who are misguided and not representative of "the rest of us." It irks me to no end. And now that the film is getting harsh reviews from critics, it makes the outspoken church members look a bit like we were making a huge deal of virtually nothing (which is true in many senses.)

But I am grateful that the issues surrounding DVC spurred on some relevant, fascinating discussions both here on SHLOG and elsewhere. Though the topic may have been beat to death in Christian circles, it was a good thing to address and I hope that many came out of it with a better knowledge of church history. Perhaps it forced some of us to come to grips with why we believe what we believe.

Now all there is to do is wait and see how long DVC holds out til it gets sent to the dollar theatre!

*Rachel*
5/19/2006
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MikeknaJ said...

Isn't that a pretty big no-win? You don't say anything and you're guilty of sticking your head in the sand or being uninformed. You talk about it and you're guilty of feeding the frenzy. No win.

Simply discussing the film intelligently and rationally shouldn't be criticized. Going into a frenzy over it or calling for boycotts, well that's something different all together. I respect Christians who approach issues and the arts in a balanced manner, though.
5/19/2006

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stephen said...

We won't have to worry about patting ourselves on the back. X3 opens next weekend and will be the #1 movie.
5/19/2006
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Shaun Groves said...

Heck yes.
5/19/2006
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Sonflower said...

I'm not for boycotts but I am for discerning what is allowed in my mind...but the discussion has actually caused many to discuss what they believe and why...and many did not know what a Gnostic scripture was until recently and why it's not credible. Some will be swayed by these arguements but is that really new? The parable about the seeds scattered...some were eaten by the birds, some were choked by the weeds and some fell on furtile grounds...
5/19/2006
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CB said...

I don't understand the big deal. Why not use the Da Vinci code to witness for Christ? It will have people talking about spiritual matters for weeks to come. (and how strange tom hanks hair looks)

It's like the world is offering us a tailor made in!
5/19/2006
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miss munky said...

I think that Tom Hanks strange hair is the only pull the movie has in this house.
hmmm...
Never heard of X3.
5/19/2006
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Brody Harper said...

I saw it last night. I didn't "othercott", boycott, "over the hedgecott", or any other "cott". I paid my eight dollars and sent my "message" to Hollywood. Is it for everyone? Probably not, but I do understand more now, the fuss that has been raised. It makes sense that people (the Christian/Catholic Church) would freak out. It will do well, and then go away. I think Christianity is safe, and may have longer staying power.
5/21/2006
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